Outdoors calendar

TUESDAY: Friends of the NRA will hold a fall fundraising banquet beginning at 6 p.m. at the Richmond Hotel on Greene Street, Augusta, with raffles, live and silent auctions and catered Sconyer’s barbecue. Cost is $45 per person, $80 per couple or $250 for sponsor members. For tickets or more information, call (706) 722-3112 or e-mail mstevenfishman@juno.com.

FRIDAY-SATURDAY: An archery only deer hunt will be held at Bussey Point wildlife management area at Thurmond Lake. The 2,545-acre peninsula will be accessible to hunters by check in at the entrance gate. The hunts will begin one hour before sunrise and end one hour after sundown. The bag limit is two does and one quality buck each day of each hunt. Quality bucks are those with racks having four points or better on at least one side, or a 15-inch or greater outside spread. For more information, call Ken Boyd at the J. Strom Thurmond Office at (800) 533-3478, ext. 1159 or (864) 333-1159.

SATURDAY-SEPT. 16: Augusta Canal Discovery Walks will focus on wildflower identification with walking and informal lectures from botanist Charlotte Christy of the Augusta State University Biology Department. Walks are at 10 a.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday and each event lasts about 90 minutes. Walks will begin at the Lake Olmstead entrance (end of Milledge Road.) Groups will walk from Bulkhead gate to Sibley Mill and back. For more information, call the canal’s programming coordinator at (706) 823-0440, ext. 2.

SEPT. 18: The Sierra Club will meet at 6:30 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church, 3501 Walton Way Ext. Kim Hines of Augusta Locally Grown will discuss sustainable farming and efforts to grow the movement. The public is welcome. For more information, e-mail Judy Gordon at gordonjudith@att.net.

SEPT. 22: Pinetucky Gun Club will play host to a Practical Shooting Skills event in which each participant moves, negotiates, runs, covers, and speed reloads through the stage as fast as their skill will allow. The program begins at 8:30 a.m. and cost will be $8 for members, $15 for non-members.

OCT. 12: An archery only deer hunt will be held at Bussey Point wildlife management area at Thurmond Lake. The 2,545-acre peninsula will be accessible to hunters by check in at the entrance gate. The hunts will begin one hour before sunrise and end one hour after sundown. The bag limit is two does and one quality buck each day of each hunt. Quality bucks are those with racks having four points or better on at least one side, or a 15-inch or greater outside spread. For more information, call Ken Boyd at the J. Strom Thurmond Office at (800) 533-3478, ext. 1159 or (864) 333-1159.

OCT. 13: A muzzleloader primitive weapons deer hunt will be held at Bussey Point wildlife management area at Thurmond Lake. The 2,545-acre peninsula will be accessible to hunters by check in at the entrance gate. The hunts will begin one hour before sunrise and end one hour after sundown. The bag limit is two does and one quality buck each day of each hunt. Quality bucks are those with racks having four points or better on at least one side, or a 15-inch or greater outside spread. For more information, call Ken Boyd at the J. Strom Thurmond Office at (800) 533-3478, ext. 1159 or (864) 333-1159.

OCT. 13-14: Augusta Canal Discovery Walks will focus on archaeological sites along the waters of the fall line including Stallings Island. Rowe Bowen, former director of the Cultural Resources Program of the Georgia Department of Transportation, will lead the walks at 10 a.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday and each event lasts about 90 minutes. Walks will begin atupper deck of Savannah Rapids Pavilion. For more information, call the canal’s programming coordinator at (706) 823-0440, ext. 2.

NOV. 16-17: A muzzleloader primitive weapons deer hunt will be held at Bussey Point wildlife management area at Thurmond Lake. The 2,545-acre peninsula will be accessible to hunters by check in at the entrance gate. The hunts will begin one hour before sunrise and end one hour after sundown. The bag limit is two does and one quality buck each day of each hunt. Quality bucks are those with racks having four points or better on at least one side, or a 15-inch or greater outside spread. For more information, call Ken Boyd at the J. Strom Thurmond Office at (800) 533-3478, ext. 1159 or (864) 333-1159.